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Oklahoma City Museum of Art starts its annual Oscar Tune Up

Through Feb. 24, when the Oscars will be handed out in Los Angeles, the museum's Noble Theater will screen three of the five nominees for best documentary feature, seven features competing in an array of categories and all 15 Oscar-nominated short films.

From a fact-based Danish period drama and a globe-trotting music documentary to a new adaptation of a literary classic and an animated pirate's tale, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is getting film fans ready for the 85th Academy Awards.

In this film image released by Sony Pictures, the cast is shown in a scene from "The Pirates! Band of Misfits." The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated picture on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. The 85th Academy Awards will air live on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 on ABC. (AP Photo/Aardman Animation for Sony Pictures Animation) ORG XMIT: NYET458

During its annual Oscar Tune Up, the lineup at the museum's Noble Theater becomes devoted exclusively to Academy Award-nominated films, particularly contenders in often-overlooked categories like best foreign language film.

“They're ones that are consistently interesting,” said Brian Hearn, the museum's film curator.

“Certainly we like the feature documentaries ... and then the ones that just blow through town a little too fast.”

Through Feb. 24, when the Oscars will be handed out in Los Angeles, the museum will shift from screening films four days a week to showing movies six days a week. Plus, it will have two Sunday matinees instead of just one.

In conjunction with the Oscar Tune Up, the museum is launching this week its new full-beverage concession service offering wine, beer, cocktails, coffee, soft drinks and more that can be taken into the theater.

“The fact that there's going to be a beverage concession actually in the same place that the original Centre Theater concession stand was is not lost on me,” Hearn said. The museum was built up and around the remains of the Centre Theater, downtown's last standing movie house.

Over the next three weeks, the theater's slate will include three of the five nominees for best documentary feature, seven features competing in an array of categories and all 15 Oscar-nominated short films.

“We have the exclusive Oklahoma City engagement of all three Oscar short film categories. That really is what blows Oscar Tune Up out of the water for us, and we crammed in even more screenings of those than we've ever had just to give people more options,” Hearn said.

“This I think is really one of the best years in recent memory for shorts across the board. It's really strong.”

The documentary shorts showcase is set for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

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by Brandy McDonnell

Entertainment Reporter

Brandy McDonnell, also known by her initials BAM, writes stories and reviews on movies, music, the arts and other aspects of entertainment. She is NewsOK’s top blogger: Her 4-year-old entertainment news blog, BAM’s Blog, has notched more than 1...